checking the e-mail I find one "warning" me I am up for automatic renewal of my symantec software the endof january,$99.99. I don't remember paying that much for it originally... it seems to work, but theres gotta be better cheaper stuff out there by now what do you reccomend for firewall and antivirus??? I put 360 on my desktop $80 and am not impressed.nothing but compatibility and firewall issues.but the $100: skeers me.
I dislike Norton - causes more problems for me than it cures. Try Grisoft avg - there is a free basic version or the more robust purchased version. It's never hung up my machine.
Nod32 has always done very well on independent tests and comparisons. This is what a lot of techs like to recomend. Look it up and see reviews on NOD32 before you make your purchase. Oh yeah, they are also pretty cheap comparatively. $39 a year here http://www.eset.com/purchase/index.php
Dude. Buy AVG. It's better in SO MANY ways... LINK: http://free.grisoft.com/ You can download the FREE version (been using that for years), which is better than any paid version of Norton out there. Not to mention the fact that the paid version, which I now have, is even better. Norton has far too much corporate spyware, and it slows systems down tremendously. AVG has constant updates, which keeps your antivirus up to date against threats. I highly recommend it. Also, a TWO year subscription costs only $70: http://www6.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-internet-security-freecnv/us/t2/0?lcpd=12m
Norton products have become like Microsoft products. They are so fat and make changes to thousands of files. You can almost never truly remove them. Why don't you just go over and download a free version of ubuntu and never have to think about AV, spyware, or malware ever again? I'm running mint now and will never go back to MS. And, all your software is free with the click of a button. http://www.linuxmint.com/ Look for Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna I really ought to create a tutorial for you monkeys on Linux conversion... It's a no brainer.
I've been running AVG (free) on my WinBlows box for years, my main computer (laptop) I'm running Ubuntu and will not switch back to winblows at all. As far as firewall if you're running DSL or Cable, and have a router (like Linksys or Dlink) you are covered as far as firewall For spyware I run AdAware & Spybot, and Window Defender (spybot is my favorite) Melbo's right though download a copy of Ubunutu or Kubuntu (different desktop environments, but both work the same) you can run it as a live CD and try everything out to make sure it works before installing. After that no Anti-Virus required
If you decide to ditch Norton (a good idea) there is a program that will clean Norton from your system if the unistall doesn't work. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2194674/norton-removal-tool Or simply search for it. Its a well know application.
I would highly recommend cancelling Norton, cleaning it off your system with the link posted by "slots"(above), and go get free grisoft avg, as several have recommended. Personally, I haven't used any antivirus in several years and haven't had a single problem, but I wouldn't recommend that to most folk.
Here's a sample of the "Eye Candy" that geeky old Linux has now. What you see here is all free and "out of the box" with a LinuxMint install, which is based on ubuntu which is based on Debian. Enjoy. I'll work something up later tonight about it and how you can try it out without installing anything to your HD. Then you can install it and dual boot into Wndows or Linux for awhile. I finally got to the point where I took Windows off altogether. [media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=3sMB98O3m2c[/media]
ALso, Here's a page that shows the free equivelents of Wondows applications: http://www.linuxalt.com/
I am switching over to Ubunto for the laptop I use for video and image editing, but how does it fair with supporting games like Windows? Is it 100% compatible with software, or do I have to keep XP on my new laptop so I can play games? I don't mind, really... The games come first. I'd go nuts.
I'd keep XP for gaming. It's not compatible. There are alternatives for apps but it does not do a good job of emulating the Windows environment. You can set up a dual boot that would give you a choice between booting into XP or Ubuntu. The last versions of XP I ran were the stripped down lightening fast versions called TinyXP. If you don't need a network, the TinyXP Beast version was supposed to be the fastest and lightest XP around. Free download via BitTorrent. My wife is running TinyXP Platinum 2 on her laptop and it's about 5 times faster that the way Mr. Gates designed it.
I'm running 360 on my machine now. Can't say I like it worth a damn. Does anyone know if AVG can run alongside 360? I would like to try AVG before getting rid of 360.
In that case I would duel boot, you could try to run some things with a program called wine although you may have to mess around with thing to get them to work, and then you may find they don't work another way would be to Open VMware, you then run a virtual windows session inside of Linux. I say duel boot for games though. I would think at some point someone will get it worked out like on the Mac side with Parallels
I run VMware server for any XP dabbling I need. Wine was always a little odd. Neither of these would be my recommendation for Brokor wanting to Game however. Gaming needs speed and resources. Virtual Machines seem to lack that.
